The Fairmont Vancouver Airport in Richmond, BC. Sue Frause photo.
I love nice airport hotels. Not the ones where you can park your car for free and take the shuttle and gingerly slip in between the low-thread count sheets and hopefully wake up in time for your early morning flight.
I mean the hotels where you arrive after a very long flight, and instead of making the long drive home, extend your trip for a night. One of my favorites is The Fairmont Vancouver Airport, which is celebrating ten years in 2010. I've stayed there several times coming and going from YVR, most recently after a very long flight from Bali to Vancouver.
This classy airport hotel has everything a traveler needs to prevent or cure jet lag: 24-hour room service, fine food at Globe@YVR, the Absolute Spa and a Fairmont Gold floor. It was also the first hotel in the world to introduce satellite check-in kiosks.
Getting there is easy, just take the escalator from the US Departures Terminal. The 392 rooms are spacious, featuring floor-to-ceiling soundproofed windows with views of the airport runways, water and mountains beyond. For sensitive travelers, hypoallergenic guest rooms have been converted to low-allergen content rooms.
And if you're literally stuck at the airport, here's a fun blog with the same name and WorldMate Travelog's 9 Unusual Places to Sleep in Airports. Here are two of my other favorite in the airport hotels:
Radisson Blu Hotel at Zurich International Airport. Sue Frause photo.
Aloft Montreal Hotel, a division of W Hotels. Sue Frause photo.